Sports Mole previews Thursday’s World Cup Qualifying – Europe clash between Azerbaijan and Iceland, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Aiming to keep their dreams of a North American trip alive, Azerbaijan welcome Iceland to Palms Sports Arena in Baku for a World Cup 2026 qualifier on Thursday night.
Milli are on the brink of elimination from the process following a woeful campaign to date, whilst Strakarnir okkar are looking to build on a respectable result last time out.
Match preview
It is likely that Azerbaijan will be happy to see the back of 2025 at the end of the November international break, with Thursday night’s hosts winless across seven matches in the calendar year, a spell which has left them with little chance of making next summer’s World Cup.
Milli suffered consecutive defeats during October’s international window, with losses to France (3-0) and Ukraine (2-1) extending their winless run in all international fixtures to a staggering 13 matches, dating all the way back to a friendly success over Kazakhstan in June 2024.
As a result, it is hardly surprising that Azerbaijan find themselves rooted to the very bottom of the Group D standings ahead of this week’s hosting of North American hopefuls Iceland, with only victory in this match enough to keep the World Cup hopes of head coach Aykhan Abbasov alive.
A major reason for Milli’s struggles over the course of the qualification campaign to date, Thursday’s hosts have managed just two goals across four matches, with one coming via an own goal, whilst the other was a penalty kick from Emin Makhmudov during the draw with Ukraine.
Azerbaijan have enjoyed victory in just three matches since November 2023, and all of those triumphs arrived on home soil across various competitions, with their most recent win coming last summer, when Mahir Emreli and Tural Bayramov were on the scoresheet.
Following an inconsistent start to World Cup qualifying, Iceland proved that they are still capable of fighting for a two-spot placement in Group D, with Thursday night’s visitors to Baku picking up an eye-catching point against European giants France on October 13.
In arguably their best performance since the 1-0 friendly win at Wembley over Gareth Southgate‘s England during the summer of 2024, Strakarnir okkar forced the two-time world champions to a share of the honours last time out, with Victor Palsson and Kristian Hlynsson finding the net either side of the half-time interval.
After collecting a respectable point from a home battle with Les Bleus last month, Iceland are currently occupying third spot in the Group D rankings with two matches remaining, six points behind Didier Deschamps’s section leaders and just three points back from second-placed Ukraine.
Beginning to cement a spot in the first XI of Serie A regulars Genoa, Albert Gudmundsson is a key man at the top end of the pitch for Strakarnir okkar, who have appreciated the contribution of three goals from the 28-year-old so far during this qualification campaign.
Arnar Gunnlaugsson’s men face consecutive away matches in this international as they seek to at least book a playoff spot, with Iceland capable of producing standout performances in hostile environments, as shown by their wins in both Scotland and Montenegro over the past 12 months.
Azerbaijan World Cup Qualifying – Europe form:
L D L L
Azerbaijan form (all competitions):
D L L D L L
Iceland World Cup Qualifying – Europe form:
W L L D
Iceland form (all competitions):
W L W L L D
Team News
Azerbaijan are expected to make a couple of changes from their defeat against Ukraine last time out as they look to stumble across a winning formula.
However, there should be no threat to Makhmudov’s spot in the side, with the 33-year-old consistently showing his importance to the struggling team.
Earning brief cameo appearances during October’s international break, Iceland midfielder Mikael Anderson is out for this month’s camp because of a heel injury.
Recently scoring against both Southampton and Leicester City in the Championship for Blackburn Rovers, Andri Gudjohnsen will be hoping to translate his domestic attacking antics onto the international stage this week.
A backup option for Premier League side Brentford, goalkeeper Hakon Rafn Valdimarsson is also playing second fiddle on the continental stage at the moment.
Azerbaijan possible starting lineup:
Mahammadaliyev; Huseynov, Krivostsyuk, Mustafazade, Badalov, Guseynov; Bayramov, Khaybulaev, Makhmudov, Dadashov; Akhundzade
Iceland possible starting lineup:
Olafsson; Palsson, Ingason, Gretarsson, Tomasson; Ellertsson, Haraldson, Johannesson, Gudmundsson; Hlynsson, Gudjohnsen
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We say: Azerbaijan 1-2 Iceland
After forcing France to a draw last time out, Iceland should be supremely confident of picking up maximum points against strugglers Azerbaijan.
Milli have shown little signs of promise during this World Cup qualification campaign, and their faint World Cup hopes are set to be extinguished in Baku on Thursday night.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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